Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for operating a textile machine, in particular an automatic bobbin winder or automatic spinning machine, that operates automatically according to an operating program, in which a course of operation is subdivided into individual operating steps at least one of which is monitored by at least one sensor that has the task of sensor detection of the presence, absence, or passage past the sensor of an article remaining connected to the textile machine or the success or failure of a provision or an operating step, and of tripping an automatic intervention into the course of operation as a function of the outcome of the detection.
It is known for such automatic machines to run without supervision. In order to protect the automatic machine if any malfunction occurs, there is typically a provision for it to shut off automatically and issue an alarm signal. However, without constant supervision, the disruption and operation cannot be taken care of until the end of a shift or possibly even later. If the attendant loss in production is to be avoided, then one is forced to put even automatic textile machines under constant supervision and also to make provisions for the fastest possible resumption of operation. However, providing precisely for immediate resumption of operation often entails problems, because restarting requires furnishing the textile material over again, extensive preparation work, additional workers for restarting the machinery, and the like, to name only a few of the difficulties. Restarting also typically entails an initial loss in quality of the goods produced. When machines are run in interlocked operation, other textile machines and other machinery and operations also suffer from the failure of one automatic machine.
In modern textile machines, sensors are increasingly used to control the various operating steps. Not infrequently, such sensors fail and then cause stoppages in operation. It is true that it is often quite simple to replace a defective sensor when the machine is stopped, so that if the monitoring system for the operation reacts quickly, the damage caused by the down time may possibly be minimized, but still not prevented.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for operating an automatic textile machine, which overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known methods and devices of this general type and which reduce the number of interruptions in operation of an automatically operating textile machine.